Their Rose
by the sleepyhead
Summary: A moment of thinking; a lot of regret; a whole month's worth of embarrassment; and a little rose. Rated T because Gajeel has a potty mouth.


Hey. I couldn't help but try writing a GaLe one-shot - I've been reading too much on them apparently haha. Please review :) hope I don't suck too much at this.

Note: Lower your standards before reading! Enjoy, I think.

* * *

_Man._

Who would have ever thought that the morose Iron Dragon Slayer, who loved nothing but a good fight and feasted upon iron, would lie right in the middle of a beautiful meadow in the outskirts of Magnolia, all by himself?

Gajeel Redfox lay contentedly on his back, an arm under his head while the other rested on his stomach, and watched as it rose and fell to his slow breathing. He blinked once, before pulling his scarlet gaze up to the clear, blue sky. He watched the clouds roll by in one direction, a smug look tainting his features before his eyelids drooped. He let out a sigh as he began to let his thoughts roam his head.

_Man, when I was in Phantom Lord, days like this never came by, not even once. _He snorted quietly at the thought of his old, no longer existing guild. _Fuck Phantom Lord. I must've been goddamn crazy. Dammit, it pisses me off just thinking about it._

He mumbled something incoherent under his breath at the thought of Fairy Tail next, but it didn't go far. _Fairy Tail - fuckin' crazy guild. Everyone there needs one hell of a punch each. _His creasing forehead relaxed slightly then. _Ah well, at least it's better than that old guild - everyone was practically dead. I've got Stripper and Salamander to knock some fuckin' sense into, anyway. Kudos to me, _he grinned, a full-fanged snarl forming as he imagined himself beating the two to a pulp.

He sighed once again. _But this guild's so fucked up and chaotic, I barely get any peace and quiet there, either. Drives me crazy sometimes. I can't even walk out the guild without getting a fucking chair thrown my way. _He rubbed his temple.

And then he found himself smiling softly. _Plus, I get to see that little Shrimp everyday. This damn guild's not too shabby._

Gajeel slid his eyes open at the thought of the blue-haired mage. Unconsciously, the hand on his torso went to pluck a bright, red rose from its stem beside him, and held it gingerly between his forefinger and thumb. His eyes rested upon the bright, bloomed flower, turning its stem around.

Levy McGarden. Or, in his case, Shrimp. The solid-script mage who always had her nose in a book. The bluenette who reached up to only his shoulders. The fellow guild member whom he had once hurt _so fuckin' badly _it was still etched onto his mind and just wouldn't get out of his head. He couldn't hold back the shudder that broke out across his body. He gritted his teeth as he remembered the sight of his own doing; the sight of the shrimp shackled onto the big old tree - along with her two fanboys - and the look on her face before she passed out. His grip on the stem of the rose tightened.

_What the fuck was wrong with me?!_

How he loathed himself for doing that stupid, disgusting thing. How he regretted his own _life _in Phantom Lord before Master Makarov had stumbled upon his hopeless being, and had pulled him out of the darkness.

And above all, how he hated the fact that Levy could still be buddy-buddy with him, after all he'd done to the entire guild in the past!

"Stop it, Gajeel," cooed a reserved, leveled voice nearby.

Said person sat up instantly and whipped around, the slightest bit of relief washing over him when he saw that it was only his partner.

Gajeel turned away from him, staring down at the rose in his hand with a glum look. "Stop what? I didn't do anything."

Lily sighed. "You voiced out your thoughts-"

_Well fuck._

"-and I've been here long enough to hear everything."

"Tch." The dragon slayer stood up quickly, refusing to meet his partner's gaze, and walked away from the meadow, back to Magnolia. Of course, Pantherlily followed closed behind.

"Forget what you did to them, Gajeel. It's all in the past," he landed on his shoulder, folding his little arms. "You're all like family now."

"That's easy for a cat to say," Gajeel grumbled under his breath. He didn't like to speak about his thoughts, never actually, but when it came to Lily, well... He trusted the cat. "What I did was... disgusting."

"But she forgave you already, hadn't she?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then drop it," Lily cut in, smacking the side of his partner's head. "Hope it gets through your metal-head."

Gajeel popped a vein. "Why you little-"

"Speaking of Levy," the cat swatted his hand away, "you've been thinking about her a lot, lately."

The dragon slayer paused for a second, before waving a dismissive hand. "Eh. What about it, huh?"

"You've grown a soft side for her, I've noticed."

"The hell are you trynna say, cat?"

Gajeel halted to a stop, watching as Lily leaped off his shoulder. Little wings sprouted from his back and he flew around him, making one whole round before stopping right in front of his face. Then a wide, sly grin broke across Lily's face.

"You llllllllllike her."

"What the _fuck_?!" A slightly warm sensation crept up Gajeel's neck, as he jabbed an accusing finger at the flying cat, flustered. "S-Salamander's cat has rubbed off on you!"

The black Exceed shrugged nonchalantly, smirking. "Perhaps. But that aside, I'm right, aren't I?"

"Like hell I like the damn woman!" Gajeel yelled back, trying to keep down his blush. He stormed away, down the streets, ignoring stares and whispers around his little scene. "The hell you starin' at?! Huh?!"

"Don't you think you're overreacting, Gajeel?" He loved teasing the dragon slayer.

"Fuck no! Shut your little face, Lily!"

_He's such a child_. "You need to get through with your feelings. You're completely-"

"I don't have feelings for the shrimp, goddamnit!"

"Tell that to the one in denial."

"You're delusional, Lily!"

"Oh, big word. Are you trying to impress Levy?"

"_What the hell?!_"

"Makes it all the more obvi-"

"I DON'T FUCKIN' LIKE HER!" Gajeel yelled at the cat, grabbing it - him - by the scruff of his neck and jabbed a finger right onto Lily's nose. He continued to walk, not noticing as he began to walk into a messed-up guild. "You listen here, you cat, if you say one more thing about-"

"About what, Gajeel?"

He turned his head abruptly to the small, feminine voice and bit back on his lip. There she was - Levy, standing a few feet away, a look of curiosity on her cute features. Lily smirked even wider.

"N-Nothing, Shrimp," his voice betrayed him, and before anything else he let go of his grip on his partner, who landed on the wooden floor with a soft thud. "Mind your own business."

"Fine, sheesh," the bookworm puffed out her cheeks, probably in an attempt to look angry, to which Gajeel couldn't help but admit how _cute _she looked. "You didn't have to be mean."

"_You _didn't have to butt in, Shorty," he shot back, folding his arms, scowling as she rolled her eyes and bent down to Lily's level.

"Are you okay, Lily?" she asked sweetly, patting him gently on the head.

"Yes, thank you," said cat replied, not missing the unamused snort beside him. His eyebrow twitched slightly, before he looked up and noticed his gloved hand. He grinned.

"By the way, Gajeel," the Exceed prodded his knee, gesturing to his hand. "What do you have there in your hand?"

"What? I don't-" Gajeel turned bright red when he saw the rose, still in his hand, and gawked at it, wishing it would suddenly disappear in thin-air. _Why the hell did it have to be a meadow, of all places, you idiot!_

Great, he groaned mentally. It was bad enough that he looked like a stinkin' pansy with the rose - and now she just _had _to be his first witness.

Levy cocked her head to the side. "A rose? Why do you have a rose?"

_Fuck you, Lily, _Gajeel practically screamed in his head as he shot the cat looks to kill. His studded eyebrow twitched as Lily only sneered back at him.

"I-I-I-I, ah... Dammit... It, uh, fuck..." He reached up into his raven hair and scratched his head, trying to come up with a lie, when he saw her expression. She looked awed by the simple flower, to the point she held up a finger and gently ran it over one of the rose's petals. She smiled instantly.

"It's so beautiful!" Levy marveled, before getting up on her feet once again. "It's been so long since I went to the park and pick flowers!"

Realization struck him. "Oi oi, I didn't do any dumb flower-picking."

"That's not the point! It's a beautiful rose," she smiled, folding her hands behind her back. "Looks like it just bloomed."

Gajeel watched as her eyes never left the flower in his hand, and without a second's thought, he held it out to her in the most straightforward manner _ever _and said, "You like it, huh? Then it's for you."

Immediately, both of them were blushing madly, the bluenette staring at him in utter surprise whilst he pulled his gaze away and mentally slapped his forehead.

_Real smooth._

"R-Really?"

"Just fuckin' take it!" he grumbled, refusing to meet her eyes. He felt the stem leave his hold, and it was only then when he allowed himself to glance at her. His breath got caught in his throat.

She was twirling it around in her fingers, the most _perfect _smile that'd ever existed tugging on her lips, and she looked so damn _happy _he forced himself to shut his eyes for a second before opening them once again.

"...Thank you," Levy said quietly, stealing a last glance at him as she flushed bright red. He looked away quickly.

"Whatever."

Soon enough, he heard her footsteps turning and fading away, and she wasn't there anymore, but instead over at a table with Lucy, showing off her rose. _His _rose.

Their rose.

He felt the slight warmth on his cheeks when he watched as she buried her face into the rose, taking in the sweet aroma, and she looked so happy he swore he could have gone back to the meadow and pluck off every flower off its stem and throw 'em to the shrimp.

A prodding to his shoulder by a certain black Exceed snapped him out of his daze.

"You llllllllllike her."

"SHUT UP!"


End file.
